


With You, It's a Piece of Cake

by qq_riri



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, HQ Ladies Exchange 2017, background kiyoyachi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 11:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qq_riri/pseuds/qq_riri
Summary: It’s Kiyoko’s birthday tomorrow. Can Yachi rise to the occakesion and bake her a cake? Maybe not by herself, though.





	With You, It's a Piece of Cake

**Author's Note:**

> A giftfic for @hitokagaychi on tumblr! Thanks to magicalauren for the pun in the summary <3

Rubbing at her eyes with loose fists, Hitoka blearily opened them. Beside her, her clock rang. She rolled over, glaring at the machine. “How’d I forget to turn it off… And it’s a holiday, too,” she muttered. She raised her leaden arm, and let it fall on top of the alarm. The ringing ceased abruptly. “That’s better,” she decided. Hitoka rolled over, and promptly descended into slumber once more.

This time, when Hitoka awoke, it was to her mother’s voice calling, “Hitoka! Get up, breakfast is ready!” She groaned. It was too early to leave her sweet bed, breakfast be damned. Her stomach growled in protest. Hitoka looked at her stomach with betrayal. How could you? She sighed, resigning herself to parting with her beloved bed.

She hauled herself up and exited her room, casting one last longing look at her bed. Hitoka plodded to the bathroom, and prepared for the lazy day ahead of her. A day where she could do anything she wanted. She hummed, thinking of everything she could get done today. Like sleep. Sleep was good. Very good.

She made her way to the kitchen and plopped down in her seat. “Good morning,” she greeted. She eyed the spread of food eagerly, and quickly thanked her mother before digging in. As she drank a glass of milk, she gave a sigh of contentment. She thanked her mother again, and looked up only to find her mother’s amused stare. She flushed with embarrassment, and ducked her head again. “Anyway, Mom, I’ll be doing homework in my room. May I be excused?” With the curt nod of approval, Hitoka brought her dishes to the sink and dashed off to her room.

She locked herself in, putting on her headphones and losing herself to the mind-numbing tedium of her homework. The problems were a breeze; she had already learned these concepts long ago. Her mind went blank, and her hand disconnected from her body, moving on its own.

Hitoka worked for a few hours, stopping only once for a bathroom break. She let out a heavy sigh of relief when she was done. She flounced to her bed and flopped down. She nuzzled into her pillow and let out a muffled screech. Finally, the torture was over! She closed her eyes, sinking into her bed. This was nice. So warm and comf…

“…to… Hito… Hitoka!”

“Hnngh…?” Hitoka murmured sleepily. “Mom…?” Half asleep, she rolled over and threw her arms around her mom’s waist. She heard a light chuckle, and a hand closed around her shoulder and shook gently.

“Get up, lazy. Time for lunch,” her mom informed her. Hitoka’s mother pried Hitoka’s arms from around her waist.

“Okay, okay,” Hitoka grumbled. “Lunch. Got it.” She got up, yawning widely as she did so.

The mother and daughter duo ambled to the kitchen. They ate quietly, Hitoka still waking up from her nap. She jolted upright. “Crap! Mom, Kiyoko-san’s birthday is tomorrow, and the team is throwing a surprise party. I volunteered to bake a cake, but I can’t bake, please help me,” she cried.

“Language,” her mother scolded. “Why’d you offer to bake a cake if you didn’t know how to do it?”

Hitoka could feel eyes boring into her, judging her for her decision. She fidgeted nervously under the pressure. “I kind of… Maybe wanted to impress Kiyoko-san?” Her eyes darted downward to her lap. It sounded stupid now that she said it out loud. It was stupid. Hitoka lamented her previous decision. All this for a stupid, stupid crush. What kind of dummy was she? Kiyoko-san wouldn’t even like her cake, she bet. It was her first time baking one, after all. There was no way it was going to come out well. Hitoka’s head drooped more and more at each thought.

Her mother’s brow furrowed. “Fine, Hitoka. I’ll help. Let’s make one now for practice, and tomorrow you can make another before you go,” she offered.

Hitoka looked up with shining eyes. “Thank you so much, Mom!” she cheered. “You’re the best!” She shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth, and stood up. “I’m ready!”

“Sit down and chew your food properly, Hitoka. I’m not even done yet.” Hitoka’s mother shook her head, and resumed eating. Hitoka obeyed, sitting down meekly. She chewed, grunting at the amount of food she had crammed into her mouth. She felt like a chipmunk with huge stuffed cheeks. She gulped down her food carefully, cheeks slowly returning to their normal size.

“Alright, I’m done,” her mother announced, pushing herself up. “Let’s get started.”

Hitoka nodded vigorously. “I found this recipe I thought she might like and printed it out! Let me go get it!” She bounded into her room and snatched the recipe from her desk.

She hurried back to the kitchen, humming in anticipation. She was sure this would turn out fine. Her mother had always made the best cakes for her when she was younger, after all.

“Okay, so the cake I want to make is a strawberry roll cake!” Hitoka announced, laying out the recipe on the counter. “We’ll need, uh, let’s see… Milk, corn oil, flour, separated eggs, vinegar, sugar, cream, and strawberries. Well, I’ll grab the things from the fridge, and we can measure them out before we start actually baking?” she questioned.

Her mother nodded, moving to preheat the oven before grabbing the rest of the ingredients. Hitoka busied herself measuring out the ingredients. “Ah, Mom… How do you separate eggs?” She stared blankly at the result of attempting to separate the yolk from the white. She grabbed paper towels in an effort to clean the mess. Her mother peered over her shoulder, and shook her head.

“Do it like this,” her mom instructed as she demonstrated the proper technique. She deftly dropped the yolk into one bowl, and the white into another.

“Ah, okay.” Hitoka tried again. The result ended up the same as the first. “Okay, um. Maybe you should do this?” she suggested meekly.

The more experienced woman laughed. “I can’t believe you can’t do this! It’s fine, I’ll do this. You clean up.”

Hitoka jumped to clean up the mess made so far, singing under her breath as she did so. She then grabbed her ingredients to mix the ingredients, and got her mother to fold in the egg whites. She poured it into the sheet pan, and read aloud, “Gently knock a few times to get rid of bubbles…” She tapped the pan on the counter timidly.

“You can’t do it like you’re afraid of hurting the batter, Hitoka. Give it here,” her mother demanded. She pounded the pan on the counter. Hitoka watched the bubbles appear at the top, fascinated. Her mother picked up the pan, asking, “Open the oven, please.”

Hitoka pulled open the oven, and was assaulted with warm air. Her vision blurred at the heat. Blinking rapidly, she backed away from the oven. Her mother slid the pan in, then slammed the oven shut. Hitoka set the timer for fifteen minutes, and pulled out the electric mixer.

“I’m going to beat the cream. Could you wash the strawberries?” she requested.

Her mother acknowledged the request with a nod, and the two fell into a comfortable silence with only the sounds of the electric mixer and running water. The timer rang, and Hitoka jumped. “I’ll get that!” she yelped.

After the cake cooled on the wire rack, Hitoka and her mother slathered it in whipped cream and topped it with sliced strawberries. They gingerly rolled it up, each holding one side of the cake. Hitoka’s mother cut a slice, and handed it to her daughter before cutting one for herself. “Not bad,” she allowed. Hitoka lit up and grinned widely.

“I think it’s too small, so I guess I should make two of them… Especially since the team is all teenagers,” Hitoka decided.

Her mother let out a quiet laugh, something Hitoka hadn’t heard in a long time. “You really have dedicated yourself to this, huh, Hitoka?” She smiled proudly at her daughter.

Hitoka nodded firmly. “Yes!”

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought!


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